


Protector

by LegolasLovely



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fire, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Singing, Violence, lullaby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 23:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20629376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegolasLovely/pseuds/LegolasLovely
Summary: Legolas comforts Reader after waking her up from a nightmare





	Protector

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by HeliumBlaze on tumblr  
{Warnings: Violent nightmare, including fire, burning and sword fighting, parent death, angst and fluff}  
Mellon: My friend  
The Lullaby: Is Mir Da’len Somniar- Elvish Lullaby, from Dragon Age, I thought it was so beautiful and fit this story really well. You guys should totally go listen to it because it really gave me the Legolas feels.

You were new to this. Honestly, it was all very overwhelming. 

You were content with your life before this. The oldest sibling of four, it was your job to cook for the family and do most of the housework. You had long ago accepted this as your fate. In your free time, you read books and tended to your family’s sheep and chickens. You had a pretty normal life in your small village. 

Then the Black Riders came. They terrorized your village, breaking windows, stealing boats, and setting everything aflame. Anyone in their way met their demise. Including your parents. 

Now, everything rested on your shoulders. You were the head of the family, the protector. You cared for your siblings and your grandparents while you learned archery and sword fighting. The next time the Black Riders came, you would be ready. 

That’s why you were here. No one who knew you in your past life would have guessed that you’d grow to wield a bow and sword so well. When the wizard, Gandalf escorted you to Rivendell and requested that you join the Fellowship of the Ring, you didn’t have much choice other than to agree. The idea of avenging your parents only pushed you more toward the adventure.

But the fear that you have felt in the past few weeks has made you want to turn around and run back home to your cooking and cleaning. You were always looking over your shoulder for orcs and searching above you for giant spiders. Fighting for your life every day was taking a lot out of you and you weren’t even a quarter of the way through your journey. 

You were plagued by shocking and horrific dreams that sent your heart beating out of your chest. Your baby sister had them after your parents died and your grandmother called them “night terrors.” You prayed every day that you would get through a night without being jolted awake, but it was as if you were being punished for leaving your home looking for revenge. 

This night, as you laid down your belongings on the ground and rolled out your blanket, your face was like stone as you were deep in thought. When you sat and finally lifted your head, you saw the entire Fellowship looking at you with pity in their eyes. 

“I wish I could make you some kingsfoil tea, (Y/N),” Pippin said. 

“Kingsfoil? Why?” you asked. 

“My mum used to make me a batch before bed so the demons wouldn’t visit me in my sleep,” he said. 

You lowered your eyes and fiddled with the strap on your boot, realizing you weren’t the only one your night terrors were bothering. “Have I been waking you all every night?”

No one spoke for a moment. 

Gimli cleared his throat and sighed loudly as he laid down and rested his hands behind his head. “Just remember, lass, they’re only dreams,” he said with a smile. 

You hummed in agreement and watched Legolas as he set up his blanket a few feet from yours. He gracefully unrolled his blanket in one swoop and sat noiselessly on the ground. 

“They came to me also,” he said to you. “They will stop soon, _mellon.”_

When you joined the Fellowship, you and Legolas bonded immediately over your shared love of archery. He gave you lessons, tips and tricks and soon you were almost as skilled as the prince. You often fought side by side and he had saved your life countless times. Of course, you had returned the favor a couple times too. 

Soon, everyone around you was asleep and you guessed you had put off the inevitable long enough. You closed your eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

_Seconds later, you were being shaken awake. _

_“(Y/N), my sweet, wake up.” _

_You sat up quickly, unable to believe the voice resonating in your ears. The world was spinning around you, and though you felt hands around your arms pulling you up to stand, you couldn’t find the face of the voice. “Come, come with me,” the voice said. _

_You were being pulled through fire, though you felt no pain. The flames rose around you in blurry orange and red lights. _

_“Where are we going?” you asked, but there was no answer. “Who are you?” you yelled._

_You suddenly came to a stop and out of the flames stepped your father. He was smiling at you, his eyes bright with love. “What do you mean, who am I?” he laughed. _

_“Da!” You couldn’t believe your eyes. Incredible relief and joy swept through you in a whirlwind. You could hardly breathe, every exhale turned into a sob. You felt tears streaming down your face in rivers as you looked upon the face you had lost not very long ago. You threw yourself at your father, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and crying into his neck. “Da! I love you, Da.”_

_But the second your skin touched, he started screaming in pain. The awful sound sent lightening through you and the flames pulled you away from him. No matter how hard you tried to reach him, to take away his pain, the flames surrounding you kept you in place. You were forced to watch him burn._

_In the blink of an eye, everything you saw disappeared. Your father and the fire around you were gone, and you were standing on the cobblestones in front of your home. _

_“How did I get here?” you said._

_“What do you mean, my love? You never left.”_

_You spun around to see your mother standing in the road. She was as beautiful as you remembered her to be, her wide grin lighting up her pretty features. _

_“Ma,” you breathed. _

_You ran to her, but with every step you took, she seemed to glide farther away from you._

_“Come here, my love,” she said._

_You continued to run to her but never grew any closer. Looking behind your mother, you saw a dark, hooded figure on a black horse galloping down the road toward you._

_“Ma! Run! There’s a Black Rider behind you!” you screamed with all your might. _

_“Come here, my love,” she said to you again. _

_You were sprinting toward your mother, but the horse was faster. As the Black Rider passed her, his sword was out, ready to slice. _

_“Ma! Go!”_

Legolas was awakened by the sound of your blanket rustling on the grass. He looked over to you and felt dread overcome him. You were having another night terror. How he wished he could go through this for you. As he had many nights before, he lifted your shoulders and slid beneath them, so he was holding you, your back resting against his chest.

You were tossing and turning and soon began thrashing, your fists hitting his chest in hard blows. Your whimpers grew into screams as he held your hands to keep you from hurting yourself in your fit. 

“No, stop!” you yelled. “Don’t leave me again!”

Legolas shushed you and rubbed your arms hard until you suddenly awoke. You gasped for breath and looked around frantically for fire and Black Riders. Legolas gently grasped your chin and pulled your face even with his. 

“(Y/N), look at me. It’s alright,” he said. 

You froze for a moment, staring at him, realizing it was all a dream and you were in the woods with the Fellowship, instead of at home with your parents. In that moment, all the grief came rushing back to you as if you lost your family all over again.

You turned into Legolas and buried your face in his neck. All you could do was cry. The pain was overwhelming. Wave after wave of grief and despair hit you. 

Legolas simply held you, feeling your ribs shake with sobs. He wished he could do more. He rocked you back and forth in his arms, his tight grip acting as a safe place for you to hide from the fire and the Black Riders. His nimble fingers gently and effortlessly ran through your hair, straightening out the knots, and drawing symbols and pictures up and down your spine. 

After a while, your pain subsided. Though no fresh tears fell, the aftermath of your sobs was evident in your breathing. Your lungs could only take in shallow breaths and every few moments, an inhale would catch in your body and cause you to shake again.

“It’s alright,” Legolas told you. His rocking motions stopped and he reached for your chin that was still hidden in the crook of his neck. When your eyes met his, he saw your skin was red and soaked with tears and an odd feeling he had never felt before rushed through him. “I will always be here to protect you, _mellon.”_

He sang softly in Elvish to you. Though you remembered little of your night terrors the mornings that followed, you recognized the lullaby he sang to you every night. 

_Sun sets, little one, time to dream._

_Your mind journeys, but I will hold you here._

_Where will you go, little one,_

_Lost to me in sleep?_

_Seek truth in a forgotten land_

_Deep within your heart._

_Never fear, little one,_

_Wherever you shall go,_

_Follow my voice, I shall call you home._

_I will call you home._

You leaned back into his embrace and rested your head against his chest. As if telling him not to let you go yet, you wrapped your fingers around his arms, feeling the muscle beneath his pale skin. You thought of the companion you had in him and your agony seemed to numb a bit. 

He kissed your forehead and his lips remained there as he continued to hum the melody. He inhaled the scent of your hair, it was unlike anything else he’d ever known. He listened to the sound of your heart beat finally normalize as your breathing rhythm matched his. 

He felt you fall asleep again in his arms and he hoped with everything he had this would be your last night of terror. He wasn’t sure he could bear to hear your screams and cries another time. He was your companion, but you were much more to him than that and he hated to see you in such agony. 

But he would remember for the rest of his endless life what it felt like to hold you, safe in his arms. 


End file.
